Tom King–with help from David Finch, a trio of inkers, and the ubiquitous Jordie Bellaire–did what he can do–did what he does better than anybody else: he crushed me under the weight of a twenty-two page comic book.

He’s got a knack for that, what with The Sheriff of Babylon and The Vision. But this–this is Batman. It’s different. The expectations are different. The investment is different.

Well, I got my two hundred and ninety-nine pennies worth with the first five pages, during which King delivers a dynamic duo of harrowing and hilarious as Alfred–in full Batman regalia–does what he can do to stall for time, to keep Gotham–the hero-come-Pirated villain who wants to destroy the city that inspired his name–occupied until Batman can do what he can do to get to ground zero. You know how Al rolls: he crashes the Batmobile into Gotham and then confronts him like Sugar-Substitute Ray Leonard, and high-capes it outta there once Batman lets him know he’s arrived on scene.

Too effing much!

Important to the sequence as a whole is Alfred’s sentimental soliloquy, in which the brave-ass butler recalls promising Thomas Wayne that he’d care for Bruce if the need arose–and that it’d be “more a pleasure than a chore” because of how simple life would be for the boy. Powerful stuff, Alfred’s fulfilling that promise in this instance: standing up for Bruce the man–the Batman.

Felt that.

Turned the page.

Felt the Batboot and soon the “BDDOOOM”; felt the plane and then the Justice Out-of-Their-League.

Felt the futility of it all.

Felt the fragility of Duke and Claire. Felt the damsel’s distress as she pulled back the curtain to reveal Gotham as god with a short fuse; felt her find the courage to be the hero–the courage to do what she can do–knowing full well she’d lose for winning.

Felt funny as I tried to figure out whether or not Batman ordered Gotham’s murder–whether or not I wanted him to have ordered Gotham’s murder: “Fine. Fine. Do it, then. Kill Gotham.”

Reread it over and over again.

Felt funnier each time.

Felt this before, for sure: a slice Of Mice and Men.

Sounded a hell of a lot like George’s “Gonna do it soon.”

Ended the same way.

Wow.

I felt that.

Head. Gut. Heart.

A heaviness.

That is what Tom King can do–and, man, I can’t wait for him to do it again.

Uber #1 (Read it! Soaked from the opening splash! Memorable, for sure. [Tell me you weren’t like, “Pull it, you Nazi bastard! Pull it!]” Then comes the twistory upon which the story is built. After that, some obnoxious Nazi name dropping, followed by, as one might expect, violence worthy of the Avatar brand. What I didn’t expect: Gillen’s got the Reich stuff! He’s already made Hitler and his Nazi posse a more interesting lot than the post-Schism, pre-NOW! X-Men he so painfully mishandled. Looks like I’m down for #2!)

Uber #1

X #1 (Read it! Not bad. Nguyen’s art is fine, never really spectacular. So’s the story. It is what it is: a #1. Willing to give Swierczynski more time: I mean, Bloodshot‘s bangin’ and–at its core–this isn’t so different.)

X #1

Chin Music #1 (Read it! Story’s sort of all over the place. But, like Swierczynski, Niles has earned my precious patience. [I’m not handing it out as freely as I had, say, when I first came back to comics and tried to stick with too many New 52 books because I loved the characters and the stories just had to get good at some point, right?] Harris’s work, as expected, is fantastic. Lovelovelove the layouts.)

Suicide Squad #20 (Read it! Change is here! And Ales Kot lets us know two panels in–just in time to support the upcoming release of the collected Change, Kot’s crazy little mini for Image that only recently reached its own form of flatulent enlightenment. Blatant self-promotion aside, in this first issue from Kot and Patrick Zircher, we’re treated to a kick-ass Suicide Squad circa Adam Glass’s New 52 nod–before SS shattered to boring bits with some awful pacing and the relentlessly regrettable Regulus claptrap. Man, I wanted to take the shards to my wrists and–I thought better of it and simply dropped the darned thing from my pull-list. Safer. Now, I’m back on board, and so is the sexy storytelling–the spirit of spontaneity–that sucked me in from the get-go.)

Suicide Squad #20

Batman #20 (Read it! Convoluted. Irrelevant. Everything we’ve come to expect from the keystone Batbook. I hate myself for having bought it because, at this point, I know better.)

The Rocketeer: Hollywood Horror #4 (Never excited to see a good mini go–for a few reasons, actually.)

Justice League of America #3 (I really want to like it. We’ll see.)

Batman and Red Hood #20 (Thanks to Peter Tomasi, I may have found a way to satisfy my need for a monthly Batbook. Would make dropping Snyder’s that much easier.)

Batman and Red Hood #20

Archer & Armstrong #0 (Still hate dinosaurs.)

Harbinger #12 (As solid a monthly series as your bound to find.)

Battlefields: The Fall and Rise of Anna Kharkova #6 (End of an arc–an Ennis arc. The mourning period begins now.)

Turns out, Brian Wood’s The Massive is about this week’s haul. Man, I could’ve sworn that I was trimming my typical take-home. Silly me. Sure, I’ll be closer to broke after Wednesday, but there are some top-notch books in this bunch, which makes it so worth it.

Right There Waiting for Me

Mind MGMT #9 (Dark Horse): Hoping for a little more after a slightly off month. (By “off,” I mean “really, really good,” which, for the average book, would be, clearly, a compliment. Matt Kindt, however, has been working at a much higher level on this title; so anything shy of mind-blowing is remarkably obvious.)

Mind MGMT #9

Action Comics #18 (DC): Finally, Morrison’s finale. Could very well be my jumping off point, which will leave me Superman-free. Big-time sigh–especially considering Big Blue was a big reason why I got back into buying comics. We’ll see what Diggle digs up next month–and what Snyder and Pak bring to the rack in the months to come.

Batwoman #18 (DC): Another one I may jump off of. J.H. Williams’ art has been the draw, and that chore has now been delegated to another–in this case, Trevor McCarthy, who’s a fine artist, sure; but will he do enough–as Williams did–to overcome the story’s shortcomings?

Wonder Woman #18 (DC): Still solid. A book you can count on every month–whether it’s Chiang or Akins on art.

TMNT: The Secret of the Foot Clan #4 (IDW): Mateus Santolouco conjured up a little magic in this mini. It’s a shame it’s only four! Let’s hope he gives us some more down the road.

Comeback #5 (Image): Ran the same route as Dark Horse’s Colder. Started off a house afire and cooled off quickly–to the point where I couldn’t wait for it to end. The waiting’s over.

Revival #8 (Image): Still have some mixed feeling about this one. #7 was definitely an step in the right direction. But there’s too much evidence that inconsistency is the true plague at play here.

Daredevil #24 (Marvel): #23 was great on many levels. The Power Pair of Waid and Samnee are killing it–and Foggy? Say it ain’t so!

Daredevil #24

Indestructible Hulk #5 (Marvel): I hope we’re not all monster this time around. Not after the House half of last issue.

Ultimate Spider-Man #21 (Marvel): Not going to use Venom as a epithet this time around. Amazing, I know! I’m keeping an open mind because of how Bendis ended #20.

Harbinger #10 (Valiant): Dysart’s kicking all sorts of ass. A must read.

Poison Elves #1(Ape Entertainment): Lucifer returns! One of my faves–created by the late Drew Hayes–is brought back to life by Robb Horan and Osvaldo Pestana Montpeller. Could be good, could suck. Either way, worth a try.

Action Comics #17 (DC): Here we go again: Morrison’s making his way out–with a bang, I hope. Expectations, however, have been comic-creator kryptonite of late. So, who knows, you know?

Batwoman #17 (DC): Stunning cover. The promise of a “[m]assive conclusion.” J.H. Williams III. That’s pretty must “all ye need to know.” Ye also might like to know that Williams III will be handing over the art duties to Trevor McCarthy starting with the next issue. Might fall from the pull-list as a result.

Batwoman #17

WonderWoman #17 (DC): Has been consistently good. In that, it’s been consistently shy of great. Therein lies the true wonder.

Harbinger #9 (Valiant): Dysart’s been building his corner of the Valiant Universe with a rare verve. A wonderful place to get lost in for twenty-two pages.